ROYAL PLAYA DEL CARMEN BRIDES: were kids allowed for the day? ...and other questions

i contacted samuel luna in case my MN photographer couldn't make it down. i only exchanged a couple of e-mails with him, but his english seems great, he has a nice website and he is really responsive. he is a little flexible in his pricing and i think he has a good eye. my limited experience with him has been positive. he did, however, mention that he works alone. so if you're looking for someone with an assistant, he might not be your guy.
good luck!

Hi CHaicago bride - I am working with Samuel Luna and he is going to be our photographer. He has been wonderfula nd very responsive. I am not sure what his pricing looks like these days. When i booked he was running a special but even with that his prices were amazing.

I think everywhere in the world the photographer is a big expense but in my eyes the most important. You want someone to capture all those memories for you

We our doing our welcome party at Wickys a restaurant beach club in Playa. However the $15 a person is the cheapiest you are going to find. Anywhere off the resort you are looking from between $35 to $70 a person. Its the open bar that kill the prices. I know it sucks because it is an AI but I guess they get you with the "its private and has to be set up" line.

Chicagobride -

 

Yes photographers are crazy expensive! FI is a photographer too! Dang the luck... too bad he couldn't magically shoot our wedding. Oh Well! We're using Ivan Luckie. Have you looked into him? FI was impressed with his line of work.

 

We couldn't get a welcome party together until the night before the wedding when our last guests arrives. We're just going to go to Senor Frogs and have everyone that wants to join go down there for drinks and it'll also serve as a joint bachelor/bachelorette party.

Photographers ARE really expensive, but here's why.

Consider how many hours of work goes into your wedding.

 

1. 2 hours of consultation Pre-Wedding

2. 4-6 hours Travel to get to Destination, plus the days they are away from their studio where they could be shooting portraits or working with other paying clients. Lots of lost income here.

3. 2-3 hours Scouting Location: looking for the best places to photograph your wedding

4. 6-8 hours coverage on your Wedding Day

5. 2 hours TTD Day After Wedding

6. 4-6 Hours: Travel getting home

7. 1-2 Hours: Downloading and backing up 4000-5000 images.

8. 40 + Hours: Editing and retouching your 500+ files to make you look gorgeous

9. 10 + hours Album Design

10. 1-2 Hours Consulting with You to Choose Images and narrow down to 200.

11. 1-2 Hour Prepping and uploading Files for the print lab, burning discs.

12. 1 hour to package and assemble your prints for delivery.

 

And this is a conservative estimate.

 

 

TOTAL HOURS: 74-85

 

And you are paying them less than $5000 for your coverage and album?? That album costs them about $500-700 to produce (hard cash). That means they get $4200 in their pocket. That's $55 an hour before taxes to do a job that requires constant education, incredible training, facility overhead, and not to mention the wear and tear/depreciation on their equipment, plus all their marketing costs, employee costs, taxes, legal fees, membership associations, cost of goods etc.

 

The top wedding Photographers ($8-10,000 per wedding) make at the most about $20-30 per hour. Photogs at the lower end make less than minimum wage! So when you say it's expensive, make sure you really evaluate what your getting and what that photographer has to spend (time and money) to make your wedding the most beautiful event ever. Is it worth it to you? And when you take into account a photographer who is EXTREMELY talented and you KNOW you are going to get the images of a lifetime.....Food for thought.

 

Most wedding photographer do the job because they LOVE it. It is their passion. Photographers will bend over BACKWARDS for brides who appreciate what they are doing for them and are willing to pay their worth.

 

 

FYI: I know a lot of wedding photographers since I work in the photographic industry.

haha, it's funny the two photographers that you mentioned are the ones I was talking about. Their work is amazing thought and you get what you pay for. But unfortunately they are not in our budget.

My future father in law suggested just setting a time for everyone to meet at the Lobby Bar too instead of doing a "private" function.

that's what i'm planning to do, too. we have a small group and i'm not sure everyone will be able to go, so i'm just planning on meeting up in the lobby bar and having the group grab dinner in one of the restaurants. it should be totally fine!

Glad to hear that. I have a couple more to contact but right now we are leaning towards him. His prices are very reasonable.

The pictures are VERY important to be as well, and from the start I told my fiance it would be one of the biggest expenses.

Wicky's is great. We actaully considered there for our reception, but the bar prices is what stopped us.

Ya I know they are insane!! It took me almost three months of negotiations to get ot a price that worked for us. I do have to say Linda worled really hard to get into our budget and we so apprecaite that they did that.

That is the great thing about playa you can neotiate and let them know what you can pay I know it can be a hassle but in the end they really are very reasonable in getting as close to your budget as possible.

So, I am working with Mike Cantarell for my video and photos. He gave me a REALLY good deal for both and was so kind to allow for a two hour break since our ceremony was moved. He has been so great to work with, I highly recommend him. Also, he said the video could be done for our AHR on May 30, he is just amazing!!!

 

For our welcome dinner, we are forking over the $15/pp and having at Asiana, but it will only be for the wedding party and family, which really is just over half of our guests. And then we are meeting everyone at the lobby bar to figure out what to do next.

Oh ChicagoBride, Im headed there this weekend for my b-day/bach party!!!! Im soooo excited!! Gonna try not to think what the FI is doing at his bach party-haha!